ABSTRACT
Despite the cost and lost productivity, most organizations still believe that meetings play a crucial role in disseminating information and providing a venue to discuss topics requiring decisions. Additionally, understanding personality styles can help cultivate techniques for effective meetings. Meetings, however, need to be used for the right reason. At Toyota and Honda, going to the gemba, Genchi Genbutsu, actual place, and seeing the actual thing stresses the importance of understanding what is occurring through firsthand experience, and all levels of employees are expected to go and see the problems for themselves rather than calling a meeting to receive a report on a problem. The meeting is expected to take place where the problem surfaced. Meetings need to add value for both the participants and the organization, such as stand-up meetings with specific agendas and timeframes that are strictly adhered to.
